The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1887-02-19

l -0OEAOoAoWVo ~ vosWOs ~ -
renewed sd jeewtyuAsss AZ the irnmens'
~storehouse in the Rao des Blancs Their
arc articles that have been renewed to
over forty years. One Anticipated
umbrella has been there since 1928
during which time its value has beef
paid four or five times over in interest
As . different colored ticket Il givel
each time apledge il renewed, the um
brella has long since exhausted oil tn
colors Of the rainbow. and on the las
occasion, when the ticket was presentcd
for renewal, the Monte de Piete mad'
a present of the venerable paraplui'
to the proprietor. After all the ex
penses Of the Monte de Piete have beef
met, the balance, If any, goes to tn
public assistance-the relief Of the poor
There are between forty and fifty Mont
de Pietc in France, and all are man
aged under the same principle, and ar
under the care of the Municipal Ooun'
ellis. The Paris house wish to have ,
capital fund, but the government viii
not allow it, The Town of Lille is thu
only town which has a fund (the result
Of private donations) for its ~pawnshop
and charges no interest for articles les,
than thirty francs value. Outside the
national institution pawnbroking j.
prohibited in France. A man was r..
Gently caught who carried on o success
full business by buying up tickets, ant
he will in duo course be punished.
The pawnshop is an ancient institu'
ton. As early as 1893 one was estab
lished in Liege. In the year 146s
several establishments called Monti d.
Pieta were started in Italy, under the
are and protection Of the church, in
opposition to the usury practices Of the
Jews, who, even at that remote period.
seemed to have embarked in the oil
clothes and money lending business
All the early Monts de Picte were con
nected with churches or hospitals, and
were a species of charitable bank;
which charged no interest. In 15S!
the Lombards began to run pawnshop
in opposition to the Jews in Lombard,
and in Holland; but from the presence
Of the Jew and the three brass balls il
the same house it would seem that tn.
two had amalgamated at some period
in their history. The Monte de Pieh
was long of being established in France
chiefly owing to the opposition of M. d.
la Reynic, chief of the police in Paris
Numerous projects were put forward
the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, but they fell through
Colbert and other prominen!
favored them. In 1902 thu
Council of Finance declared it would
be to the "glory Of God, the service O.
the State and the public interest,"" wcs
Monts de Picte established. Necket
took the same view, and protested
against the conduct of the avaricioui
Jews and others who practiced on tn.
cupidity of the public and successfully
tlecced them. 1t was not until Decem.
Der, 1777, that Louis XIV. sanctioned
the Mont de Pietc. Soon after THU
the first was opened at Paris. 1t wa:
Under the Charge uf the chief Of police
and four administrators of the genera
hospital. The rate of interest charged
was 81 and Al per cent. The concern
was a tremendous success. In the yea,
1888 there were 500, 600 different arti.
cles pawned. At the time of the Rev.
the Mont dc Piete was sup
pressed, on the ground that il
was monopoly, and imme'
the Jews and the LON.
bards stepped in and carried on
lourishing business. The republic
considered the condition of things ''in.
re-establishcd the Mont d.
Piete after five years, and with slight
changes now and then in the admin.
istration it has continued ever sinc'
with increasing success. There are
however, opponents to the system ant
those who allege that it is a mont SAM
piety. But NJ. Edmond Duval, in
work which he is preparing, giving tn.
history and administration o!
institution, says that the annua,
of the Monte de Piete show tina
the establishment has become indis
pensable to the population Of Paris
who are too intelligent to pay any hect
to the reproaches Of usury levclet
it. Doubtless, he adds, som,
alterations are necessary in the admin
istration, but no m can deny that il
renders important services Pail Nal
Gazette.